Going Off Script
by Pokemon Trainer Tom
Summary: It was over. The Mastermind was gloating and Shuichi was feeling despair. Was it true? Everything they had done, all the sacrifices made, was it all really for nothing? If the killing games really were as big as the Mastermind says, how could he possible counter it? He had nothing. Except a feeling something was off. Hold on, Fiction? But wouldn't that mean... V3-6 Spoilers.
1. The Chink in the Costume

**What the hell am I doing?**

 **V3 Spoilers below.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Danganronpa nor anything associated with it.**

* * *

 _"Fictional?"_

Shuichi Saihara had never fully believed in his title as the Ultimate Detective. Sure he had always managed to solve the infidelity cases dropped upon him by his Uncle and, even if had just been chance, he had managed to solve a murder case before the police, but he didn't take pride in these facts. Everytime he exposed the truth someone ended up worse off because of it. A man no longer able to see his children due to a mistake brought on by alcohol, a woman exiled from her family after a moment of weakness with someone she believed a friend.

Even now Shuichi could remember those eyes. Full of malice and judgement as he was pulled away for a crime he had committed in the name of his lost family. Eyes that looked right through him, filled with so much hatred, as they questioned him, demanded him to explain why he took the side of the monster that had forced him into this situation. How could he do this to him, you _stupid, pathetic detective who just wanted toexposethetruthandhel-_

Shuichi had learned that day that his so called 'talent' would always cause heartbreak. No matter how hard he worked to expose the truth it was already too late. A detective was there to solve the crime, to clean up the mess criminals left behind. That was the day he retreated from the truth, becoming the person he was today. At least until much more recently.

That was who he had been, who he was. His memories, his life. He had lived it!

 _"Even if your body is real, your identities, personalities, talents and past are all fiction."_

And then things had gotten better. Not the killing game, obviously! He didn't think he would ever be able to forget the smell of blood and musty books or just how quickly blood could spread, soon infecting all that water nor that final shot of her body hanging, _crushing the shell of that person whohadbeenso **alive** justmomentsbefo-_

But in between all those things, the quiet moments where he could just talk with Rantaro, Ryoma, Kirumi and Kiyo and the chaotic ones where he was just trying to keep up with Angie, Miu, Tsumugi and Kokichi yet enjoying their presence just the same. Accepting himself as he was and helping Gonta and Keebo achieve the same while trying to make baby steps with Tenko.

More of these memories filled his head. Training with Kaito where he helped him after losing Kaede, and Maki when she started letting him in. Him helping in turn with Himiko and assisting helping her truly learn to express herself. Kaede, aiding him right at the beginning letting everything before happen. He had even lost the damn hat (to the detriment of his hair but that was neither here nor there).

Every moment, helping make who he was now, ready and determined to take down this killing game that so many people had lost their life for. To show the truth of the academy and finally avenge all who had been lost and get everyone else out alive! _Well almost everyone…_

* * *

So why is it that now he had nothing to say? He'd done it! Despite everything Monokuma had thrown at him he had unmasked Tsumugi. He hadn't faltered when she had revealed her 'true form' as Junko Enoshima and picked apart the lies told about the Flashback Lights and Hope's Peak Academy.

But then the mastermind, _not Tsumugi, not anymore_ , had come out with something so absurd.

 _"It's all fiction, it's all a lie!"_

What had happened next had been a blur, a multitude of characters of every description, trailers and an audience and-

 _"I will come up with the best, most gruesome murders I promise! Everyone will love it!"_

But that _couldn't_ be the truth. It must be a lie! He'd countered lies before, whether from Blackends or Kokichi and he'd always been able disprove their allegations, so he could easily do the same here!

 _"And an Ultimate Detective hasn't been the blackened yet, so I'm sure I can do that!"_

But he couldn't find it. There was no weak spot in the testimony, no piece of evidence he could pull up. There was nothing to refute.

 _"The weakest Ultimate Detective ever… Wouldn't it be great to see him grow?"_

And besides, even if there was how did he fight this? There had been 52 other killing games. How could he possibly stop this? The mastermind had all the cards here. It took everything he had just to continue the debate.

"We really... said that?"

From his brief glance it seemed that both Maki and Himiko were in a similar state of shock as himself so it wasn't much of a surprise that it was Keebo who chimed in next.

"That's a lie! I have no memory of that!"

With a flash the mastermind was back to a tanned brunette, speaking in an enthusiastic tone that only increased the discomfort he felt, "You just forgot is all. Cuz of the Flashback Light we used you."

Next was a short boy with dangerous smirk, "The people you used to be are gone. You're fictional characters now."

Hold on.

What did Tsu… What did The Mastermind just say?

Something was nagging at him. It was a feeling he was used to during class trials and he had learned to trust it, ever since that moment that felt so long ago now when he noticed the camera flash on the hidden door photo. Something didn't add up. But what was it? Something with the evidence? No, a testimony.

"Do you finally understand?" He recognised this person, how could he not when she had been such an inspiration for him so long ago, when he was first starting out as the Ultimate Detective? But all this took the backseat of the taxi that was his thoughts, as he continued thinking, his mind on overdrive.

The testimony that bothers him, he'd thought little of it at the time. It hadn't made a whole lot of sense but it had been backed up by another so he let it go. And yet he found himself back there now, standing at a podium just like this one.

 _"You're the Ultimate Cosplayer though," He looked across into the half closed eyes of Ryoma, who's subconscious fiddling with the toothpick in hand detracted nothing from the determined tone he spoke in. "You could have just disguised yourself as someone else while you were out."_

 _"D-Disguised!?" the cosplayer responded with such an affronted look you'd think someone had just taken a lighter to all her outfits. "No, no! I don't do disguises!"_

 _It was Kaede who came to her defence, "I don't think that's possible. And I know the reason why." The briefest of pauses occurred before she continued. "Tsumugi can only cosplay as fictional characters."_

But if that was the case...

 _"That's what cosplay is supposed to be in the first place!"_

Then there was clearly a contradiction here…

 _"Lately, some people prefer to cosplay as non-fictional characters, which is unforgivable…_

But that would mean…

 _"It's so unforgivable that I break out in cospox if I even attempt it..."_

That the truth was actually…

"You are all flesh-and-blood fictional characters."

 **"No, that's wrong!"**

He had an opening.

* * *

 **Y'ello everyone. My name is Pokémon Trainer Tom and I'm doing something that I never thought that I would, upload a fanfic.**

 **I've spent many years on this site (in all honesty probably far too long) reading and since I've had this idea knocking around for a while I thought 'Screw it' and this is what happened.**

 **This likely won't be too long a fic, I mean we are already at the climax of the main game (Which to be fair I really enjoyed) and likely won't extend beyond the conclusion of this trial, but we have quite a bit before we reach that.**

 **Updates are going to be… inconsistent. I have a few valid reasons such as University and a few less valid reasons but I hope to not leave this fic without updates for too long.**

 **Please drop a review if you have the time, I'd really like to hear any feedback anyone may have, positive or negative. This is my first proper piece of writing since the days of creative writing, quite a few years ago now. Tell me how to improve! Whether that may be the content or the formatting.**

 **Until the next time!**


	2. Tugging on the Loose Thread

**It appears this is still a thing I'm willing to commit to.**

 **Contains V3 Spoilers.**

 **Disclaimer: I still don't own Danganronpa, nor anything associated with it. Well except this story I suppose, Oh and that sketch of Togami I made a little while back.**

* * *

Shuichi's words echoed around the trial grounds. A small part of him noting that it may have been the most conviction he had shown since this whole Mastermind tangent started.

Behind him the screens flickered, the live comments that had been flooding in previously from the so called audience paused, before continuing in earnest, everybody gushing over the 'latest plot twist'.

Keebo too seemed to almost, _pardon any robophobia,_ buffer, locking almost entirely in place, the only exception being a piece of his metallic 'hair' that was instead moving erratically. This only lasted a few seconds however, before he abruptly shifted, turning to face the detective, his eyes requesting him to continue.

Himiko looked up, lifting her magicia- _mage_ hat, ignoring the tears that had begun to soak into it, looking far more responsive than a moment prior.

The pained grimace on Maki's face froze, her head turning in his direction and the white knuckle grip she had made on her podium loosened, the wood no longer creaking under her grasp.

At the far back of the courtroom Monokuma appeared to stumble in place, causing him to start juggling the gavel he had been carelessly waving for a brief time, before it fell, creating a brief clatter in the otherwise silent area. With a deep sigh he followed its movement, before uttering a brief curse and leaping off his throne to retrieve it.

Shuichi saw none of this though, his focus was solely on the occupant of the stand opposite him. The Mastermind seemed stunned, the taunt they had been preparing stopped, caught in their throat.

With a flash Shuichi was again looking across at 'Junko the 53rd' who was now sporting a crown. "I beg your pardon peasant? I don't recall giving you a chance to interrupt!"

This attitude only lasted a moment more before the crown suddenly became a troop of mushrooms, of all things.

"At the very least you could have used your catchphrase correctly."

"Tsumugi."

"Who? You could at least use my name when I'm like this. Otherwise it's just depressing…"

Ignoring the fakes' ramblings Shuichi continued, "Tsumugi, you contradicted your earlier testimony."

"Huh, I did? I'm so sorry I'm not any good in situations like this…" It was a small, soft spoken girl who responded, unshed tears in her eyes. "You mean from earlier in this trial?"

"No. I'm talking about something that occurred much earlier. But before that…" Preparing himself mentally for his request he continued, "Could you cosplay as Kaede for me?"

Finally having clambered back onto his perch Monokuma was the first to react with a vicious grin. "Oh? Are you missing your girlfriend that much? Are all those Love Keys going to your head?"

He tried to dispel the blush he knew he was showing, but judging by the confused glance he received from Himiko and Keebo and the slight glare he was given from Maki he was sure he was failing. _I **really** don't need those thoughts right now!_

Dispelling any thoughts of the building next to the casino from his mind, he continued, "Ah, no nothing like that. This is actually a very important question."

"Well I..." Now speaking as a tightly wound male in a pristine white uniform the Mastermind tried again, "Well, of course I could, I'm the Ultimate Cosplayer! But… I mean… There are strict rules-"

"So are you saying you wouldn't be able to cosplay as her? What about Himiko? Or Maki?"

Shuichi has only meant them as an example but judging from the way Maki's glower was now reaching levels he _really_ didn't want to be on the end of he decided it was probably best not to bring her up as an example again.

Yet another flash receded to reveal a blond with an arrogant sneer that fell just short of reaching the same levels of smugness it managed to convey before, "What are you talking about? Is this some kind of loaded question?"

"Just answer it, now." It was Maki who spoke next, thankfully shifting the target of her glare away from him.

"Well… I suppose that I could. But it's impossible because, as you can see, I am without the time and resources to create a costume."

"No, that's wrong!"

Ignoring the sigh and muttered _"Not again…"_ from the Mastermind, Shuichi continued.

"We have everything we need right here. You could easily attempt a cosplay of any of the four of us. All it would take is for one of us to-"

"Expose yourself in front of our lovely audience here? Great plan detective, this will really give a boost to the viewers!" Monokuma chimes in with a cackle before turning, seemingly at random before continuing to speak. "Be sure to vote in our poll of which character you'd want to see _that_ much more of!"

"Shuichi, you're saying you want one of us to-"

"Ah, yes Keebo." He admitted, "Unfortunately the dorms building was heavily damaged earlier, and so the only garments we can use are the ones here. So I realise it's a lot to ask but-"

"No."

"I'm don't really want to do something like that until I've managed to turn my whole body invisible…"

"It would be a bit difficult to properly dismantle and reassemble me again…"

 _Ah... I was kind of expecting being shut down, but why do I now feel like Tenko's portrait is trying to burn me alive…?_

"Um, that's OK everyone. I can do it…"

Avoiding eye contact with everyone Shuichi was quick to unbutton his uniform. It was swiftly folded and clutched to his now bare chest.

With his ordeal half over and with a blush rivalling the colour of Himiko's hair, he returned his focus back to his surroundings. It was likely because of this embarrassment that it took a little too much time to realise his podium had shifted into a new position. The centre of the trial grounds.

 _Maybe it's a good thing Miu isn't here. I don't want to imagine what she would have said about this turn of events..._

He tried to glare at Monokuma, who was no doubt the cause of this development, with as much heat as he could. Unfortunately as it was all currently rather rapidly spreading from his face and down his neck it came up a bit short.

Daring a glance at his fellow survivors he was somewhat relieved to see that they had all turned away each of the sporting a flush of colour on their cheeks as well.

 _Well at least I know they're suffering with me…_

"Well Tsumugi?"

It appeared that Tsumugi had taken the distraction as a reason to change up her appearance again as when he turned his gaze across the room he came face to face with someone who appeared to be some kind of chef complete with apron and hat.

"Well, normally I'd never be one to turn down a little bit of exhibitionism, but are you sure this is the right time?"

"Stop stalling. Now."

"Grah!" It seemed Maki's words finally spurred the Mastermind into action. With a nervous sweat and a shaking hand they reached out towards Shuichi, taking the articles of clothing in his possession. Seeing everyone's eyes upon them they threw a desperate look over their shoulder towards the two toned bear, who was watching the proceedings with a cautious eye.

"Don't look at me, this is your mess! As a cosplayer shouldn't you know that you reap what you _sew_?"

With a final grimace in Shuichi's direction a flash of light enveloped the room once again, both brighter and longer than those that had occurred previously.

 _Between Keebo's flashlight function and this continued assault I wouldn't be surprised if I go blind soon..._

Blinking to remove the dark spots that had formed over his vision Shuichi opened his eyes to see… himself.

"I-I'm… Shuichi Saihara. T-they call me the Ultimate D-detective, but I'm really still in training… I d-don't have the credentials to call myself a detective yet. I really am quite pathetic..."

Shuichi couldn't help the small wince that formed in response to his doppelgangers' words. Though he hated to admit it, this interpretation was a little too accurate to life. _I guess this was to be expected after my antagonizing but I still can't help but feel-_

"I thought you were the Ultimate Cosplayer. Is that really the best you can do?"

 _Huh, Maki?_

"Shuichi doesn't act like that at all. He's far more confident in himself!"

 _Keebo?_

"Nyeh, I think that even _I_ could do a better job than that…"

 _Himiko?_

"You guys… really mean that? It may not be the case now but at the beginning of this killing game-"

"A certain idiot once told me there was no use dwelling on the past. It's who we are now that matters." Maki said, speaking with a genuine smile.

"I concur. It doesn't matter if you felt like this before, as your friends we're all proud of how far you've come since then." Keebo continued, his finger pointed towards the detective.

"Yeah, we never would have got this far without you Shuichi! So don't go saying it's all a pain now." Himiko finished with an unusually stern expression on her face.

"I… N-no you're right." The shame that had be building inside him seemed to slip away, instead replaced with contentment, "Thank you everyone. For everything."

With their pieces said the group turned their attention back to Tsumugi who had been strangely quiet throughout this moment. The reason why was clear once they saw her.

"Nyeh? Did Tsumugi conjure some colour change magic while we were talking?" Himiko asked.

It appeared that the fake Shuichi's body had broken out in a fierce and ugly rash. The person themselves seemed to be forcing themselves not to scratch at the inflamed pink skin.

Keebo was the first to figure it out.

"Ah! This reaction, could it be cospox?

"Yes I believe so." Shuichi replied with satisfaction.

"You mean of all the things Tsumugi has claimed, _cospox_ is a genuine condition she suffers from?" Maki questioned disbelievingly.

"Hold on! Didn't Tsumugi say that this would only happen if she was in disguise?"

"That's right Himiko. Or to put it more specifically, cospox would occur in the case that Tsumugi tries to cosplay as a **non-fictional character**."

"Ah!" A startled look passed over the face of the person in question. In addition it seemed they had finally lost the battle to avoid scratching themselves as a trio of thin red lines had been created on their left cheek.

"B-but that would mean…" Himiko dared to hope.

"That the claim Tsumugi had made, that we ourselves are fictional characters, was a lie." Shuichi concluded.

Monokuma was the only one to respond, wearing a vicious grin.

"Puhuhuhuhu… Seems things really _are_ getting more exciting. I wonder just what's going to happen next…"

* * *

 **Y'ello again everyone, thanks for stopping by!**

 **I think i'll break it off here for now. I've got the next 500 words written out so far but I didn't want to include it here, partially as I haven't reached a good cut off point yet and also because, as I said previously, I'm not sure this'll be too long a fic. I don't want to blow all of it in one chapter!**

 **(Seriously though what was I thinking?** _ **You know what? I'll make my first ever fanfiction based around the opportunities I saw in trial 6. I can see no problems here! I mean sure the whole thing will take place in one location and include a character whose main gimmick is pretending to be any of the other 30+ characters in the franchise, what could possibly go wrong?)**_

 **Once again thanks for reading. I don't want to make any promises I can't keep but the next chapter could potentially be out this weekend. At the latest it'll be this time next week. Maybe.**

 **Drop a review if you have the time, I'd love to know what you really think of everything that's happening and any criticism you have. I want this to be as good as I can make it so I'd really appreciate your thoughts!**

 **Until next time!**


	3. Emergency Repairs

**Keeping it going.**

 **Contains V3 Spoilers, all the spoilers.**

 **Disclaimer: Still don't own Danganronpa, so don't ask.**

* * *

Tsumugi was finally back in her own clothes, thankfully returning Shuichi's own in the process, still displaying the angry scratch marks on her face. She hadn't spoken since his deduction, merely returning each scowl she received with her one of own, simply allowing the tension in the room to rise.

It appeared that some timer in her head reached zero though as she stared directly at him before speaking anew, venom dripping from every syllable.

"Fine. You caught me. I guess I got a little too into character and went too far. I suppose I never should have gone against the _Ultimate Detective_." She finished, spitting his title like a curse.

"So you admit your accusation that we're all fictional characters was a lie?" Shuichi replied paying no mind to her death glare. He'd suffered much worse at the hands, or well _eyes_ , of Maki anyway.

"Yes." Tsumugi hissed at him.

"A-and all that stuff about our friends and family being fake, that wasn't true either right?" When no response was directed at her Himiko continued, "R-right, Tsumugi?"

"Oh no, that was all true." Tsumugi spoke with glee, her entire expression reversed, "It's true you may be real enough to set my cospox. But everything else? All of it is a construction created by the flashback light. I mean, come on, a maid who's actually the prime minister? A man whose entire life is one big Tarzan parody? _Kiyo_? Surely you didn't believe that _any_ of these things were actually _real_?"

"H-huh?"

"It was a nice little distraction, I'll give you that Shuichi, but did you really think _that_ little inconsistency changes the fact that all of you are still following a script of my design? That every action you've taken in this killing game was predetermined? The killing games are never ending! With the way you're acting now, nothing you could ever do would be enough to stop Danganronpa!" Tsumugi cackled.

 _She's right._ He admitted to himself, still picking through her monologue in case of inconsistencies, _this whole thing is far bigger than just Tsumugi. This entire building seemingly built just for us and this killing game. The technologies behind Monokuma, the exisals… the flashback lights. All these things point to these killing games are the work of an enormous organisation. Just how do you fight something like that?_

"This isn't true, is it Shuichi?" Keebo asked.

"I… It's hard to say." Shuichi replied, his thoughts still jumbled, "There's no evidence either way-"

"Of course there isn't!" Tsumugi butt in with a victorious smirk, "The flashback light overrides and creates any memories we need it to. In fact, if we so desired, you wouldn't even remember the light being used on you at all!"

"Th-then… my friends and family… My whole life before coming here…" Himiko stammered.

A nasty smile overtook Tsumugi before she was replaced with a hulk of a man, even rivalling Gonta. The only imperfection being the marks still being displayed on their face. Shuichi noted the small wince that occurred when the copy tried to touch the area. Apparently the area was too tender to cover up with any kind of makeup.

The small moment of discomfort didn't last long however before the room was filled with a booming voice, "All fiction! That's what a backstory IS!"

Many more characters came and went, each one claiming the same thing. There was no place for them in the real world, that the people of the outside world themselves **wanted** to see them in a killing game.

Shuichi only listened to their ramblings with half an ear though (he didn't dare tune it out entirely just in case another contradiction sprang up) and from his brief glance around the room he saw that his friends were doing the same, thankfully not looking nearly as despondent as he had feared they might.

 _Tsumugi may have claimed it was a pointless diversion but the simple fact that she's been caught in one lie already is a much bigger consequence than she realises._

Despite this mindset though it did not mean they were immune to the taunts. He almost broke down after he saw some people whose looks seemed to be near identical to that of Kaede and Kaito preach about their enthusiasm to appear in a killing game, giddy about the atrocities they were more than prepared to commit.

He distracted himself by noting that despite the obvious similarities that were present, the names of the people who appeared in the footage was omitted. _Just like for myself…_

Tsumugi tried a similar attack against Maki and Himiko, ridiculing them for their relationship, platonic or otherwise, with Kaito and Tenko respectively. Thankfully…

"Is that really the case? And even if it was would it really matter?"

Keebo was quick to interject.

"W-What are you talking about?" Exclaimed Tsumugi, a baffled look on her face, "I've just told you that everything that you've done since you woke up in this killing game was because I wrote you that way! Every murder, every word was written by me! Even your feelings are-"

"If I may interrupt?" Without waiting for a reply he continued, "I don't claim to be an expert on people but I do happen to know a few things about 'programming' somebody. I can say with 100 percent certainty that it would be impossible for you to dictate people in the way you claim."

"Of course we can! The flashback lights are used to imprint any memories we so desire, to get people to act in a whatever role they are assigned!"

"I… may not be able to dispute that." Tsumugi's look of triumph was thankfully soon overridden when Keebo resumed talking, "If everyone here was, in fact, a robot like myself then potentially your claim would have merit. After all I am… a machine. Nothing more than data moving through some wires."

"Keebo! That's-"

"It's OK Shuichi, I have made peace with the concept. And even so it doesn't stop me from having all of you as my friends." Here Keebo turned to each of them, giving them a smile, one each of them found easy to return, "That data was programmed, imputed in such a way to cause me to respond in response to a variety of stimuli, and even after all that it isn't perfect. I know this because of my feelings. In my life I have felt emotions such as happiness, sadness, pride, shame… Many things I myself did not know I was capable of feeling. But I learned, evolving past the limitations set by my programming, becoming who I am today."

"But even all of that is just something I wrot-"

"Really? I think that while the flashback lights and motives may have influenced us to a point, our actions, our feelings are entirely our own. If a robot like myself can live as an individual, how could you possibly think we would accept that you could do the same to people. People with hopes and dreams and fears, we have learned from our actions, learned to survive, to _live_ in this academy, and that's what matters."

"How many times must I say that it was all me!"

"I don't believe you."

"W-What?"

"Me neither."

"B-but… I..."

"Who would want to believe in something like that? I'd rather believe in everyone else over you."

 _Well said everyone, especially you Keebo. I really can't thank you enough..._ "Well Tsumugi? Anything you'd like to add?"

Instead of replying verbally Tsumugi's face was set in a wordless snarl. She was stuck in a loop, looking between each person frantically while shaking in place. Eventually her flaying ceased for a moment and when he looked down Shuichi saw that her skirt had managed to snag, the high quality fabric getting caught on her podium. However, this went unnoticed to the girl herself whose motions only became more erratic. This continued for a short time more until-

 ** _Riiiip_**

The inevitable happened, the sound finally pulling Tsumugi from her trance. Blinking in confusion she looked down to inspect the damage. Shuichi wasn't sure what to make of her expression when her head was raised once more.

She looked… baffled.

Almost... lost.

Tsumugi completed one more circuit to look at the other people around the room before she looked back down, her attention returning to her skirt. She ran her hands slowly down the tear in the material and her eyes closed for a moment. After she had finished reviewing the damage she looked across the room at him, her glistening eyes carrying the darkest glare Shuichi had ever seen.

Monokuma was the first to respond, his voice showing his amusement with the situation, "Whelp guess that _tears_ that line of discussion!"

Tsumugi seemed to appreciate Monokuma's pun as much as she would being spoiled on her latest anime season as she soon turned her ire upon him, evidently forgetting they were supposed to be on the same side.

"Don't you look at me like that young lady! This is your own fault for being so poor at improvisation and trying so hard to stick to your 'script'. Angie was the religious one remember?" Here Monokuma released a brief chuckle at his own (poor) joke before continuing, "A _real_ Mastermind would have realised that there are far better lines of discussion that you could have taken to bring the despair."

"Like. What."

"Well personally I think you should have focused on the little note that you'll find in the student handbook under rule five" Pulling out a handbook of his own Monokuma released a cough, just to drag out his explanation a little longer as he obviously no real 'throat' to clear, " _The killing game and class trials will continue until only two surviving students remain._ And unfortunately for them, I don't rate their chances of ending the killing games very highly. This is Danganronpa V3 after all! You all seem to have forgotten this whole scenario has occurred at least _50 times before_!"

* * *

 **Y'ello once again people, thanks for reading!**

 **This chapter just would not cooperate with me. I just couldn't get the whole thing to flow properly and I couldn't get Keebo's moment written in a way I liked. It's unfortunately the reason that this is as late as it is.**

 **I've still got ~ 200 words that were written two chapters ago now that I just couldn't get to fit, which may not seem like a lot, but when the entire chapter winds up at around 1500 words that's quite a fair amount missing.**

 **Anyway enough of my lament. Leave a review if you have the time! This is still my first time writing anything in so long and I would love to hear your thoughts and criticisms, please help me make this fic as good as it can possibly be!**

 **Next chapter will hopefully be out on Wednesday again. At the latest it'll be next week but I hope it doesn't come to that.**

 **Until the next chapter!**


	4. The Accompanying Garment

**Urgh, my schedule is slipping. Although I'm honestly surprised it took this long… More information at the bottom if you want it.**

 **Contains V3 Spoilers. But you already knew that didn't you?**

 **Disclaimer: Still don't own Danganronpa. Just this fic.**

 **I have also added a cover picture that I may have spent a physics lecture completing. Let me know what you think!**

* * *

As Monokuma's mocking laugh faded out Shuichi locked eyes with his fellow survivors, each of them doing the same in turn. Each of them expressing the same emotion he knew he was currently showing, confusion.

In fact it appeared that everyone had forgotten this little detail in the wake of Tsumugi's diversions. As when he dared a glance at Tsumugi he saw that she was also blinking in confusion from the sudden topic change. It seemed that even she seemed taken aback at this turn of events.

Her bewilderment didn't last long however as she was soon to fall back into an expression of glee, a far cry from her previously shown displeasure.

"Oh of course! How could I have forgotten?"

"That's the problem with all you recent masterminds, you're all just too clueless what to do when things start going off script! You all need to take some improv lessons!" Monokuma laughed.

"Wait a second, the script?" Shuichi tried.

"Hey! I happen to think the script was great! What's your problem with it?" Tsumugi spoke, blanking him completely.

"Oh I don't know, maybe the fact that the whole thing revolved around the idea that you lot were all the last sixteen survivors of humanity, despite the fact that one of those survivors was a robot!"

"Hey! That's-"

Ignoring the objection that rose from Keebo at this statement, Monokuma continued, "And don't get me started on ' _my little cubs_ '. I don't know what they were thinking this season, but I suppose after so many killing games it was bound to happen eventually..." Monokuma lamented.

"There have really been that many killing games?" Keebo spoke, trying to bring the debate back on track.

"That's right! Sure quite a few have been similar in some ways, especially things like a double murder nearly always occurring for the third class trial, and the fact that the higher ups keep trying to replace me! I especially hated that stupid spotlight stealing monkey, what kind of a name is Kokorosaru anyway? I mean-"

"Get to the point already!"

"Fine, fine. As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, is that all of you are just the latest in a long line of wannabe stars wanting to experience true despair!" The bear chortled.

"It was touched on earlier but all of you auditioned the same way, each of you practically begging to be a part of the show you love so much!"

"What about Rantaro?" Shuichi interjected.

" _Wellllll_ … He was more of a special case, but I assure you he auditioned and got the role he wanted, just like the rest of you! _Wellllll_ … I say special but it was really a more common clause than you would think. _Wellllll_ … I guess I have no idea what you are thinking do I? So maybe it's really exactly as common as you think it is! _Welllllllll_ -"

Monokuma continued to babble on in this manner, managing to perfectly balance the act of talking extensively without actually _saying_ anything.

Unwilling to listen to the bears' drivel Shuichi tried to plan his next move. _Despite the severity of Monokuma's claims I can't actually find any contradictions in them… Even so, something here is off. I just can't see it._

Shuichi sighed before looking back over his memories for anything that could help in this situation, _I almost wish Kokichi was here, he always was able to see through any lies..._

 _'There are many different types of lies you know? Some are just white lies, there to help people, while others exist only for the benefit of the teller. I really hate it when people do that you know? Thankfully anyone with just a little bit of intelligence should be able to see through any of those. Then you have the people who are able to lie without actually saying anything at all. These are the people you need to watch out for the most my beloved Shuichi! Who knows what kind of secrets they may be omitting…'_

 _Ah! Of course! While Monokuma may have never outright lied to us, he's certainly kept information from us before. The issue now is actually getting that information out of him… Perhaps if I stick to just getting more information for now. After all, I already have my first topic._

Shaking off his final thought Shuichi returned his attention to the 'debate' where it seemed things had finally started moving again, still on the topic of Rantaro.

"He was quite the fan favourite last season, it really was a shame to kill him off so soon, but he really just got too nosy for his own good, you know?" Tsumugi spoke, a depraved look upon her face, "I felt quite the connection to him myself you know? I wonder if the circumstances had been different then-"

"That's the issue in a killing game I'm afraid! There are so many interlocking plot lines, some have to be cut short. Sacrifices have to be made in the name of 'following the script' you see." Monokuma said, ignoring Tsumugi's questioning look.

Taking the chance given to him Shuichi interjected, "Are you saying that everything in this killing game is just a byproduct of this 'script'?"

It was Tsumugi who responded to his question, speaking through a smile that could only be described as _smug_ , "Of course, I remember writing it myself! Everything was planned in advance by me and I knew _everything_ that was going to happen before it did!"

"Nyeh? That can't be right." Himiko interrupted. "After all, you've already lost it twice in the last twenty minutes alone."

" _Fine_ , as our local 'programming expert' mentioned," Here the girl shot a particularly sour glare to the expert in question. Thankfully it seemed his metallic body was resistant to acidic substances. "I may not have _total_ control over your thoughts, but all the major things that have happened? Every murder, every trial-"

"That can't be right either." It was Maki who was next to counter, speaking with a pleased smile and only slightly watery eyes, "After all, I remember both you _and_ Monokuma being completely clueless in the last class trial."

"Well that was just… Wait, huh? But I should… I wro-"

"Yeah, so what?" Monokuma said, bringing attention back to himself.

"What do you mean 'so what'? We've just proved that no matter what you say to the contrary, the idea of there being a script written by the Mast-"

"Let me ask you this. Do you know why these killing games are such a hit? Why people keep asking for more? Anyone?"

To Shuichi's surprise nobody answered the bear. _That's weird. For most of us this is new, potentially vital information, but why hasn't…_ A brief glance answered his trailing thought, as it appeared Tsumugi wasn't listening and instead had raised a hand to her temple and rubbing it slightly, a puzzled look on her face. When she noticed him looking however she stopped, returning to a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"Huh, apparently not. Sheesh, 'F's' for all of you! The answer is despair! Everyone, young and old, wants to see the battle between hope and despair. Now while everyone used to root for the side of hope, people noticed a recurring issue. The lack of mystery.

 _'Hope vs Despair, huh?'_

 _'It was exciting at first, but to do it again?'_

 _'What's the point in watching? We all know how it's going to end.'_

It was on that day people learned a very valuable lesson… HOPE IS BORING! The same formula over and over again! What's the point it getting invested in a character when you know how things are going to turn out in the end? People started to stop watching and I was almost out of a job! But then the brainiacs higher up had a brain wave:

 _'Why don't we let Despair win for a change?'_

And win they did! Blackeneds escaping with their lives in the place of all their _dear friends_ , the so called protagonist being one of the first ones out! We even had a season with zero survivors, just to shake things up, and the audience loved every minute of it! Danganronpa was back on top! All thanks to the mystery of the unknown!"

"That's the reason?" Shuichi whispered.

"Of course! And the Mastermind is specially chosen to make sure this whole 'shindig' runs as smoothly as possible. Right Tsumugi?"

When no response came Shuichi looked across at the girl in question, but instead of anything he expected to see he saw her looking down at her student handbook a look of intense concentration on her face.

"Geez Tsumugi, you've really become boring… Anyway as I was saying. Who doesn't love watching 'Ultimate students' whittling each other down through stabbings, poison, beating each others heads in, watching the blood and brains ooze out-"

"Assuming that each killing game starts with 16 people," Maki spoke, trying to distract herself from the horrifying words she was hearing, "And each one ends when there's only two people remaining… We're looking at 728 casualties, minimum. That also doesn't include the eleven people we have lost in this killing game either."

"So many people…" Himiko mewled.

"Ah don't feel too sorry for them, they all got their few days of fame. Some of them even survived for a few weeks! And we here at Danganronpa don't discriminate! Every participant is treated exactly the same!" Monokuma chortled.

 _Every participant?_

"These killing games are just overflowing with despair! The blackeneds knowing that all their planning and murder was for nothing! The victims who in their final moments relish in the hatred, the betrayal, knowing they'll never know the answers to their questions. Those who remain learning how they're just a tiny cog in the huge machine that is Danganronpa, learning that everything they know was created by flashback lights! All of it just warms my little heart! But the sheer despair that the final two contestants show when they learn the truth of their survival is the best!"

 _...!_

"And just what is that truth?" Shuichi questioned.

"Now come on detective, you should know I'm not going to make it that easy for-"

But Monokuma never completed his provocation because he was interrupted by the person Shuichi was least suspecting, the person who was supposed to be on his side, as responsible for their misery as the Despair Headmaster himself. Yet instead of participating in the bears' jeers this person had now taken to staring at nothing, a blank expression on their scratched face.

Tsumugi Shirogane, the Ultimate Cosplayer.

"They participate in the next killing game, that's what the rule means."

* * *

 **Y'ello again. Thank you for still reading.**

 **I'm really sorry about the wait for this chapter. I just found it really hard to churn this out this coupled with Uni demands meant I just kept putting it off. This may affect future chapters too so while I don't want to make any promises I can't keep I hope to have the next chapter out by next week at the latest.**

 **Please let me know your thoughts, on this chapter and the developments of the fic as a whole. I really love to hear your feedback, especially constructive criticism! Help me make this fic as good as it can be!**

 **(I wanted this out earlier today but the FF website is playing up so I'm uploading by phone. Means I'll have to add line breaks earlier though...) (Done!)**

 **Until the next chapter!**


	5. Last Year's Trend

_**Sees last weeks promise. 'Nailed it!'**_

 **Spoilers! Tsumugi is the Mastermind! All caught up? Good.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Danganronpa. I've also run out of ways to express this fact.**

* * *

Fortunately it seemed that Tsumugi's words were finally enough to stop Monokuma's current spiel. Unfortunately…

"What. THE. **HELL**! You can't just give them the answer like that! You have to make them work for it! I just can't believe you would do something like that Tsumugi, I mean after all we've been through together-"

...The bear was more than willing to start up another rant.

Nobody was paying the bear any mind though. Because, once again, the entire mood in the courtroom had been changed in an instant and nobody was quite sure how to react.

While it appeared that Tsumugi's words had caught everyone's attention, each of them were still processing what they had just heard in their own ways. Maki and Keebo had locked in place, as they compared the new revelation to their memories and memory banks respectively, looking for correlations between the two. Himiko had shrunk in on herself, quietly muttering the rule under her breath, her mage hat once more pulled over her eyes.

Unlike before however, where Tsumugi seemed to revel in the reactions she received her eyes were entirely on him, silently waiting for what was to come. Shuichi returned her stare with his own. While the suddenness of the interruption may have been a surprise, the words themselves...

Himiko was the first to speak, her eyes widening with a gasp, "Y-You mean two of us will have to go through everything, all over again? There was no point to anything?"

Maki was next to cut in, her words sharp as the knife she still carried on her hip, "Never mind that right now. There are fi-four of us here, what happens to the two people who _aren't_ considered as the final two participants?"

For the first time in a while a flash of light illuminated the trial grounds, when it receded Tsumugi had been replaced once again by a lavender haired detective.

"From what I remember it differs from season to season." The copy spoke with a shaky smile, turning to her right to address the question, "Sometimes it's irrelevant, as all the other contestants were already dead, usually because they couldn't stick to the rules of the killing game. Sometimes those alive were placed into a battle royale type situation. Winner takes all. And sometimes in a class trial not too dissimilar to this one… they are given an ultimatum."

"And just what is this 'ultimatum'?" Maki asked.

"A vote. You can't end a class trial without a vote, you know." The copy said, wagging her gloved finger in a mock chastising manner, "Everyone would vote on who they wish would get to escape the killing game, the votes are counted and the Mastermind would be executed in a blaze of glory to the cheers of everyone. And then? It would _all_ begin again. Fourteen new contestants would be found, flashback lights created and memories replaced and no one would have a clue."

"You're offering all this information rather easily." Keebo stated, his metallic features twisted into a picture of confusion.

Another flash and the podium was now occupied by a male with a very... large shape. Pushing up the new pair of glasses on their nose the person spoke again.

"Well I _was_ going to tell you all this stuff anyway. I had it all planned out, you know? Your spirits crushed by the fact that you were all just fictional people, before you chime in, with how your 'inner voice' says that you should never give up on hope. It really would have been quite the heartwarming moment, at least until I revealed your 'inner voice' was nothing more than surveys the audience filled out from home. That was the brand new gimmick this season you see, audience participation, so Danganronpa kindly produced Keebo for that purpose "

"W-Wait! W-What?"

"Hmm? I suppose this is still quite the revelation to you." Seeing Keebo beginning to panic the male simply rolled their eyes before continuing, "Oh forget about it. In the state all of you are in now I'm sure you would have just started reassuring Keebo that he was still your friend despite this fact. This doesn't even include your little talk on programming earlier. Unless you'd like to take this opportunity to say that you've always followed _exactly_ what your inner voice has said, at all times?"

Waiting for a shake of Keebo's head, which he soon received, the male continued, in a deeper tone than before "And would any of you like to say that you now hate Keebo following what you've now heard?"

"Of course not, how coul-" "-our friend, no matte-" "-ow dare you think we wou-"

"You see?" Tsumugi spoke again with a bitter laugh, now dressed as a pale girl in gothic dress after a further flash, "There's no point now, you all trust one another too much. I know when I've lost and there's no point us repeating the same scenes over and over again expecting a different outcome. Anyway Maki and Keebo would have volunteered in place of Shuichi and Himiko, nicely ending their character arcs, I would have been executed in the name of hope and you two would have been free to live out your lives in the outside world, leaving behind those who sacrificed everything to give you that chance..."

"Tsumugi what's up with you?" Himiko questioned, the tiniest bit of worry shown in her eyes, "You're acting even stranger than before."

It was true, despite the accuracy of both the looks and voices of the 'cosplays', their overall tone and mannerisms were all… off.

"Never mind that now, I… it doesn't really matter." The girl waved off, a slight tremor running through her body at the same time, "A-Anyway Shuichi, you know what this would have meant right?"

"Maki would have become the new Ultimate Survivor." Shuichi realised, "Exactly like how Rantaro was in this game."

"Then what about me?" Keebo asked, his previous discomfort gone.

"Well I can't say for certain but… I imagine they would have found a way to include you in the next killing game too. If I had to guess they would create a flashback light that would turn you…" The individual trailed off, a hand curling through the large drills of hair she possessed, a look in her eyes that could only be described as… lost. "It's not important."

"Then what _is_ important?" Maki stressed.

"The contradiction in my testimony just now. Surely you must have realised it?"

"Nyeh, why can't you just _tell_ us?"

"Well Monokuma was right about one thing, this is Danganronpa. The way it goes is that you get asked a question that you have to answer before you can continue. You can't change the formula that much…"

"-and then I said I don't care if it's your favourite food I am NOT putting it on my… Sorry where were we?" The bear spoke up, as if responding to his name. Thankfully nobody gave him any attention, each of them thinking over Tsumugi's words.

"So we know that it's true that the killing game is supposed to continue until only two people remain, the way Monokuma reacted is proof enough of that." Maki said, kicking off the 'debate'.

"Aw shucks, you students know me so well…" Monokuma cut in with a grin.

"If things had gone to plan in this trial we would likely be voting on who those final two would be right now." Keebo pointed out, shivering in place, as if imagining that outcome now.

"Me and Shuichi would have been the ones to leave." Himiko said, shooting a pained look at both Maki and Keebo.

"After Tsumugi's execution that is!" Monokuma spoke again, while the girl in question nodded her head silently.

"Meanwhile Maki and Keebo would have stayed behind, and have been hit with more flashback lights when ready for the next killing game." Shuichi stated, "During this process Maki would have been cast as the new Ultimate Survivor, her old memories replaced."

"Just like how Rantaro was in our killing game." Himiko mentioned, "He must have been in the same situation as we are right now!"

"From what I've heard it was exactly like this one." A man in a jumpsuit in a colour that could only be described as an eye-sore replied, their hands gripped tightly to the stand in front of him, "Although I don't remember ever seeing it myself."

"From what Tsumugi told us, I too would appear in the next killing game, as both 'survivors' as it were appear in the next season." Keebo commented, "Although I would apparently be cast as something else. An extra of some kind perhaps?"

"And then after finding fourteen more people and using further flashback lights to create the 'characters' the killing game would begin again." The male finished, pulling their beanie over their eyes.

"Nyeh? Fourteen? But each killing game starts with sixteen people right?" Himiko questioned. "After the Ultimate Survivor wouldn't that mean you still needed fifteen more?"

"Remember the rule." Maki responded with a gasp, "Both of the remaining people participate in the next killing game and that means…"

"That another one of us has participated in a killing game before." Shuichi concluded with dread.

"Geez, finally! How did it take you so long to remember that?!" Monokuma spoke with a laugh, "Of course thanks to the flashback light you have no idea which one of you-"

"Including the ones I showed you earlier we have thirteen audition tapes for this season." The man interjected before he lifted his beanie and turned his gaze around the circumference of the trial grounds, "These tapes are for Korekiyo, Angie, Maki, Ryoma, Kirumi, Kaito, Shuichi, Miu, Tenko, Kokichi, Himiko, Kaede and Gonta."

"That leaves Rantaro who is already accounted for, Keebo and-"

"Guess that means it was the robot all along!" Monokuma claimed, "After all-"

"No that doesn't make sense. After all, Tsumugi said that Keebo's creation was for this season's 'gimmick' of audience participation. It's not possible for Keebo to be the other survivor from Danganronpa season 52" Shuichi addressed.

"But if that's the case the other person who lived through the previous killing game alongside Rantaro is…"

Together everyone turned their attention to the podium in front of Monokuma's throne. While in hindsight this answer seemed obvious, the fact that until now each of them only treated this person as 'the Mastermind', something that had only been aided by the constant costume changes. Someone who was one of the main reasons they had found themselves in this nightmarish situation.

But taking her recent behavior into account, and if everything they had deduced so far was correct, that would mean…

A final flash of light lit up the room again and the podium opposite Shuichi was now occupied by a pink haired girl who stood with her right hand clasped to her chest and a shaky, yet serene smile on her face, "...Aww, you totally guessed right!"

This act didn't last long however as, with a shake of her head, she reached up to take out the hair clip she was wearing, looking at it for a moment, before removing the wig all together with a sigh.

Replacing her glasses onto her face and running a hand through her now frazzled cerulean hair it was Tsumugi Shirogane who spoke to the group once more.

"The person who competed in Danganpa's 52nd season alongside Rantaro Amami, the Ultimate Adventurer... was me."

* * *

 **Y'ello everyone, once again thank you for reading!**

 **Admittedly this may not be the biggest wham line to end on but hey, I'm reasonably happy with how this came out.**

 **On the other hand I wish I'd planned a bit more of this fic out than I did. I had all the early points that I wanted to include but more recently a lot of this has been spontaneous, which if I'm honest is really not the best way to write.**

 **As always please leave your thoughts and criticisms on the chapter and fic as a whole. I love to hear what you think! Help me make this fic as good as it can be!**

 **Until the next time!**


	6. Finding the Target Market

_**Finally**_ **.**

 **Spoilers are here so don't read if you don't wanna.**

 **Disclaimer: No Danganronpa rights here, move along please.**

* * *

The silence in the courtroom following this declaration was deafening. Nobody seemed quite sure how to react to this revelation, least of all Tsumugi herself.

It was to distract himself from this silence that Shuichi, for the first in a long time, _looked_ at Tsumugi, his mind categorising everything he had been too distracted to properly notice before.

The trial hadn't been kind to her. Blood had dripped down from her scratches, causing a stain on her previously white collar. Her once immaculate hair was now in a tangled mess, likely down to the careless removal of the last wig she had been wearing, and beneath her torn skirt, _Not that I'm particularly looking!_ Shuichi could just about make out the barest hint of black.

But these features were not what he was _truly_ focusing on, instead he looked into her eyes.

 _How long has she had those bags beneath them?_

He of course knew of the cliche phrase of 'the eyes being the window to the soul', but while that may hold true to a certain extent, it wasn't enough to allow him to instantly know what Tsumugi was thinking or anything like that. He was however able to notice just how _tired_ those eyes looked, as well as the tear tracks that had been left on the teen's face just below them.

 _Has she been… crying?_

He also noticed that unlike before, where Tsumugi had maintained eye contact with whomever she was currently conversing with, or otherwise looking straight across the room at him, they were now flicking around the entirety of the room at a rapid pace, seemingly searching for something, all the while muttering under her breath.

When he tried to strain his ears to hopefully catch some of what Tsumugi was saying Shuichi found that while he couldn't hear _that,_ he _could_ just about make out the sound of... _growling?_ It only took a moment to place the source of the sound.

 _Is that… coming from Monokuma?_

It was at this point that he realised that the only area that had been exempt from Tsumugi's gazes was that directly behind her, where Monokuma's throne and the bear himself were, and had been, situated throughout the class trials they had undergone. Based on this fact, and the trembling he could see across Tsumugi's entire frame, he was confident that he wasn't the only one who had made a note of the growls.

 _He's really that... mad?_

In an attempt to break the silence, it was Maki who first tried to articulate her thoughts, "You're certain Tsumugi? About Rantaro?"

Tsumugi offered no response however, merely continuing to look around the room in a panicked fashion.

"Tsumugi!"

When she received a start from the cosplayer Maki tried again, this time speaking with a noticeable edge in her voice, "Are you certain?"

"I-I am." Tsumugi confirmed with a shaky nod. Upon noticing Maki's questioning look she continued, "Sorry… I just thought that, after saying _that_ , that something was going to happen to…"

Her words trailed off once more into a nervous swallow, her hand rising to tightly grasp onto her elbow when the sound of growling slightly increased in volume for a moment. When nothing further happened however, she continued speaking, her tone subdued, "Yeah I'm sure. Well... definitely about the Ultimate Adventurer part anyway. I believe the title came about while he was off searching for his missing sisters."

Shuichi couldn't help the nod of agreement he made in response to Tsumugi's words. He hadn't spoken to the man much himself, an unfortunate consequence of him not properly trusting anyone at the beginning of the killing game (another thing he thanked Kaede and Kaito for, whom had helped break him of the habit) but from the few times he had actually spoken with Rantaro, his 12 sisters were one of the few things he could remember past his amnesia.

Shaking off his thoughts he returned his focus to Tsumugi.

"A-and what about those other things?"

"H-huh?"

"A-all those things that you were saying?" Himiko elaborated, "A-about you being in the last killing game, even though now you're the Mastermind of _this_ one?"

Tsumugi offered nothing more than what looked to _almost_ be a small smile. In Shuichi's eyes? It just looked like a wince.

"Does that mean…" Himiko continued slowly, "Everything that 'the Mastermind' has done, the killing, the executions, the motiv-"

With an abrupt gasp Himiko cut herself off, her eyes wide, leaving only the sound of Monokuma's hushed growls in her place.

Everyone was so shocked by this sudden interruption that it was actually _Tsumugi_ who was the first to respond.

"...Himiko?"

Though she was swiftly followed by everyone else.

"Are you okay?"

"What's the matter?"

"Did you figure something out?"

But the mage offered no explanation for her outburst. Her hat had once more been pulled over her face, hiding her expression from everyone.

Thrown by the unusual behaviour it took a moment for Tsumugi to respond to the questions she had been asked, since it seemed they probably weren't going to get anything further from Himiko soon.

"I'm sure. _Everything_ I said in the last debate is what I currently believe to be the truth."

 _Everything?_

Shuichi didn't have long to think her words over though, as Tsumugi was now talking once more.

"T-though I'm afraid I can't tell you many details about the 52nd killing game itself. I _would_ tell you if I could, it's just…" Tsumugi trailed off, her eyes drifting into an unfocused state when the growling from behind her become louder briefly once more.

"The Flashback Light?" Keebo guessed, missing this momentary interruption.

"R-right." Tsumugi stuttered, before releasing a bitter chuckle in an attempt to calm herself, "I realise that it's not the best evidence to back up my claim but…"

"True." Shuichi said, but, quick to reassure her he continued, "But I think it would really help if you could tell us everything you can about both the previous killing game and yours and Rantaro's involvement, no matter how small a detail."

Swallowing, Tsumugi spoke, "O-ok. I-I'm read-"

 _ **GRRR**_

This time there was no missing the noise. A _snarl_ emanated out of the bear, lasting only for a few seconds but still enough to create a brief quiver in the bodies, whether organic or metallic, of Keebo and Shuichi while Maki's hand snapped down to her knife, her body already in a defensive stance.

In comparison however, Tsumugi almost collapsed on top of her podium in what seemed to be an act to try to make herself as small as possible. With a closer look he saw that her knees had actually buckled out from under her. She held eye contact with Shuichi for a moment and, in doing so, he could see that her pupils had dilated, nearly entirely swallowing her teal irises.

She only stayed in that position for a moment though before her eyes flicked to her left to the empty spot next to her and she appeared to gain some kind of second wind. Her legs straightened and, after a pause, the tight grip she had made on her stand relaxed somewhat. She shook her head sharply a couple of times before she took a glance at Maki, Himiko (though she didn't return it due to the fact that her face was still in shadow) and Keebo in turn. With a final deep exhale she once more looked across her podium at him.

Blinking in surprise, Shuichi raised his head slightly to see that behind her, Monokuma's features had twisted into a look of shock, his eyes staring ahead into the back of Tsumugi's head. His expression quickly darkened however and his mouth opened, no doubt ready to release some sort of cutting remark, but, to Shuichi's surprise, he closed it and adopted a look of consideration instead.

"What… What was that?" Keebo asked.

Tsumugi only gave a small shrug, her gaze off to the side.

Wanting to get back on topic Shuichi spoke, returning his gaze to Tsumugi, "Tsumugi if you're ready?"

In return she offered a slight, shaky nod. "Y-yeah... O-okay."

Shuichi only allowed himself a brief look of concern towards the girl before he got back into his trial mindset. While it may be slightly cruel, they all _needed_ Tsumugi's testimonies at this point in time.

"So, what should be the first point of discussion we should focus on?"

When no immediate answer appeared Shuichi thought it over for a moment. "How about-"

"E-Excuse me!"

"Ah?" Looking to his right for the cause of the interruption his eyes met those of the previously silent red headed mage, "Himiko? What is it?"

"I'm sorry about before…"

"Huh? Oh, don't worry about it."

Waving the apology off, his eyes flicked around the room to see that everyone was now waiting to hear what Himiko had to say. Thankfully the girl was quick to oblige.

"I wanted to…" Taking a breath to steel herself under the gaze of the many people in the room Himiko spoke again, only the slightest of tremors in her voice. "Could we talk about the motive videos for a moment?"

"The… motive videos?" Keebo asked.

"You mean the Kubs pads?" Maki clarified.

Shrinking into herself slightly Himiko began. "Y-Yeah… I'm sorry if it's a pain but I… It's just… I keep thinking about all the stuff that Tsumugi said before, about our families and friends and _everything_ being _fictional_ -" Cutting herself off with a sob, Himiko wiped at her eyes for a moment.

Unnoticed by all, a minute shiver ran through Tsumugi in response to Himiko's words.

"We didn't really have any proof before, it's why we decided to _hope_ that she was lying to us. B-But then, I remembered the motive videos we all got. Because if we and all of our friends and family are fictional, who are the people _in_ those videos? It's a… a… Nyeh…"

"Contradiction?" He prompted.

"Yes, thank you!" A smile briefly overcame the saddened expression on the girl's face, though it was once more overtaken by a surprising pout one soon after, a finger pointed in his direction. "But don't interrupt!"

 _Huh? But I was just…_

"This is… really important to you, huh Himiko?" Tsumugi whispered.

If Himiko looked surprised by the origin of that question she didn't show it, instead she just mumbled out a quiet ' _Uh-huh'_ before speaking again. "There's someone in the outside world that… really means a lot to me. I haven't been able to see him in a really long time and I have a lot of things that I _really_ want to say to him. And if he really _is_ real..." With fresh tears in her eyes Himiko cast a tearful gaze around the room, finally ending on Tsumugi, "S-so could we talk about them?"

 _Oh Himiko..._

Himiko's pleading words were enough to strike a chord with Shuichi. Thinking back, he could remember how he had decided to spend a fair majority of his free time around the mage after the disastrous effects the third trial had had on the girl, during which she had divulged him with the tales of her Master in return. Based on what she had said it was evident that she cared deeply for the man who had made her who she was today. Himiko had been especially adamant that her Master was still out there and was training for the day that he would reunite with her.

To have to question whether or not that person was even real…

For the first time he thought back to his loved ones, his uncle who had always been there since his parents had gone overseas, the man who had always guided him in his training and later application of the detective skills that he had learned from him. The man who had supported him after _that_ case, never judging nor leaving him...

"I'd be happy to." Seeing Himiko's hopeful look he returned it with a small smile, "I'll admit that I'd like to know too."

"As would I." Keebo added.

"Yeah, there are… people I'm really worried about too" Maki confirmed.

Together everyone turned to look at the final person in the room.

Tsumugi didn't respond though. Instead she was staring at Himiko, who had returned her gaze back once everyone had finished talking. Tsumugi opened her mouth, but no words followed. She closed it, opting to bite on her lip instead, a conflicted look on her face.

Breaking the contact her eyes flicked up to one of the large screens dotted around the room, the logo of Danganronpa 53 still displayed, illuminating the rest of the room.

Around it comments were still flooding in from the eager audience. Daring a glance Shuichi managed to catch a few of them.

' _Get on with the trial already!'_

' _We want our execution! What's taking so long?'_

' _Who cares about all this stuff? Kill each other already!'_

"I…" Pausing again Tsumugi looked across the room at Himiko, the smaller girl's tears now freeing flowing down her face.

"Tsumugi, _please._ " Himiko begged.

Swallowing the lump in her throat Tsumugi spoke. "O-okay."

"Really?" When she received a nod Himiko broke out into an expression of sheer joy. " _Thank you_ Tsumugi _._ "

Tsumugi's eyes widened slightly and she looked down at her podium briefly before she too broke out into a similar, though much more hesitant, smile. "You're welcome."

With the atmosphere of the trial reversed again, this time decidedly for the better, Keebo began to speak.

"Since none of us have any of the videos anymore as they were likely destroyed by my… actions" He trailed off with an embarrassed flush on his metallic cheeks. "As such we will need to mention everything by memory. Perhaps we should discuss who got whose motive video?" When no objections arose he continued, "Do you know, Tsumugi?"

"Ah no, sorry. The Monokubs were tasked with distributing them, I had no input in the decision."

"Hold on, they really were _completely_ at random?" Shuichi asked.

"I… I think so. Originally I planned out the many murders that _could_ occur based on who got which one. Honestly I was expecting it to involve Kiyo in some way, as did most of the audience actually if what I've heard about the fanfiction is true…"

"F-Fanfiction?!"

"N-Nothing!" Tsumugi denied, turning a deep crimson colour. "A-Anyway, that didn't happen because _I_ got Kiyo's pad. It had old footage of him and his sister together on it."

"I got Angie's video." Himiko said. "And it said something about her entire island having something happen to it. It's one of the main reason I started to hang out with her. A-And Atua." She added after a nervous look towards the ceiling.

"You already know that I got Ryoma's video." Maki said, looking down at the floor. "And what happened afterwards."

"Maki-"

"I'm fine." She interjected. "Can we just move on please."

"I got Kaito's video." Shuichi obliged, but not without a quick worried look in the girl's direction. "It had both his grandparents on it. They looked… tired, and worried mostly."

"Both of them?" Maki questioned.

"Yeah." Shuichi confirmed, frowning slightly in confusion for a moment. "Ah! That means it couldn't have been just Tsumugi acting in them!"

"T-That's true…" Tsumugi said, to both him and herself.

"And now that I think about it, there was a picture of Kaito with them before that, and there was definitely _some_ resemblance between them!" Shuichi said, his mind racing.

"That would make it much harder for them to be some random actors, not impossible but still…" Tsumugi mused.

"We also saw Kokichi's video just a few hours ago." Maki added.

"There wasn't a lot to debate about, but again it was definitely a group of people, each with a different body type. Again there was a picture of Kokichi with them." Shuichi said.

"I kinda wish Kokichi was here now…" Himiko spoke. When everyone turned to look at her she flushed slightly before continuing, "Because he knew which video everybody got I mean!"

"Didn't Gonta say that he got Tsumugi's video?" Shuichi asked.

"Oh yeah, he did. I suppose it would have been suspicious for me not to have one… I wonder who was in it though… Oh, maybe it was Jessica Nigri! I've loved her ever since she complimented my-"

"Actually, I heard that your video contained two people." Keebo interrupted.

"Two? Wait how do you-"

"Gonta told me." Keebo continued, though he paused for a moment afterwards, the only movement his ahoge on top of his head. He quickly shook his head though, a confused expression on his face. "When he received the video he didn't know what to do, so when he found be outside he told me all about it."

"Oh Gonta… Did he… Did he say who they were?" Tsumugi asked hesitantly.

"I believe he said that… There was a boy and a girl, teenagers. And that…" Closing eyes, possibly to help aid his memory Keebo continued, "The boy had long brown hair like Gonta and seemed to be wearing pyjamas of some kind, though he said the stains on it weren't very 'gentlemanly', and the girl had... pink hair and a big black jacket? Oh! She said her name was Clover!"

"Clover? Clover…." Tsumugi repeated, whispering the name to herself.

"He also... said that they were sorry."

"S-Sorry?"

"It's what they kept saying, they said that it was their fault that you were in this killing game. That… they never should have let you _two_ do it."

"Anything else?" Tsumugi asked desperately.

"Urm… No, I apologise but I have no more information about your video. Afterwards I told Gonta to be careful not to tell anyone about what he saw. I'm sorry." Keebo finished, shooting Tsumugi an apologetic look.

"It's… Okay. It's not your fault." Tsumugi said despondently before once more whispering the details she had received to herself.

"However... It's possible that the video I received will be more helpful." Keebo said.

"Oh, that's right! Which video did you get Keebo?"

"I received Tenko's motive video." Keebo stated.

"Tenko's? Who was in it?" Himiko asked.

"Well while I could tell you…" Keebo began before a familiar sound exited his body. He reached up to his mouth just as a picture was dispensed from it. When it was turned to face everyone Shuichi saw it was of an older man with what appeared to be some kind of monk's robes over a large, muscular build.

 _Ah this must be-_

"This is Tenko's Neo-Aikido master." Keebo unknowingly confirmed, "According to this she trained with him for years ever since she was very young."

"Hold on." Maki interrupted. "Tenko's master is a _male_?"

"Yes…?"

"But then _why_ did she say that she hated _all_ -"

"Maki."

"But it doesn't make any-"

"Maki, not now." Shuichi said, trying to get the conversation back on track.

When Maki opened her mouth to respond once more it was promptly closed again when _she_ was the one to receive a glare from _everyone_ else. With a short huff she grabbed one of her long twintails before looking to the side with a small pout.

"R-Right." Keebo stuttered bringing the attention back to himself. "In addition the video actually contained a picture of both Tenko and her master mid sparring session. But not only that..."

With a whir another picture was dispensed from Keebo's mouth which was promptly turned for everyone to see once more.

The picture showed a scene of four people, three of whom were facing the camera. On the left was the same man as before, a large grin on his face and on the right was a smaller figure, that of an elderly woman who was clutching a bag to her side protectively. On the floor there was a younger male figure, who based on the look on his face was in a fair bit of pain.

This was likely a cause of the foot that was currently pressed deeply into his crotch Shuichi noted with a wince.

It was the owner of this foot though that Shuichi paid the most attention to. It was one that belong to a young girl, perhaps seven or eight, sporting a grin with a worryingly vicious undertone. He recognised her instantly, how could he not? Even with the lack of the ribbon in her shorter head of hair the girl was clearly-

"That's Tenko!"

Resisting the urge to yell out _I Agree!_ in response to Himiko's declaration Shuichi instead gave a nod before speaking. "It certainly looks like it's her, yes."

"D-Does that mean…"

"I'm not sure." Shuichi began, but upon seeing the dejected look on Himiko's face he tried to justify his response, "Sorry, but while it certainly seems to match the things that Tenko told me about her past and just because it _looks_ like her-"

"Can I see that picture for a second?"

"H-Huh? Tsumugi?" Keebo questioned, sending off a quizzical look towards the girl.

Though she flinched under the robot's gaze Tsumugi kept her eyes on the item in his hands. "T-The picture. Could I…"

When Keebo turned his focus onto him Shuichi could only offer a shrug in return. He wasn't sure what to do either. While he would be grateful for more information, it was still possible that-

"Here!"

"Wha-" Looking down at his now empty hands in confusion Keebo turned to see that it was Himiko who had taken the initiative and was now handing the picture off to the bluenette, receiving a tiny smile and a quiet 'thanks' in response.

Tsumugi's eyes scanned the picture for a moment before they settled in the middle of the photo. They stayed locked in place for a few more seconds before they snapped up, landing on the brown eyes of the mage, where her once guarded expression softened upon seeing just how nervous the smaller girl was.

"I…" Releasing a breath Tsumugi began again, "This is a picture of Tenko Chabashira when she was ten years younger, I'm certain."

Wanting to be sure Shuichi asked, "You're certain? How?"

"Well… Despite everything I'm still the Ultimate Cosplayer and cosplay is... a bit like acting really, with the idea of perfectly getting into a role. But beyond that people try as hard as possible to look _exactly_ like the character they're trying to be. The effect is usually achieved through the perfect outfit, makeup and imitating poses and body language."

"You really are helpful when cosplay finally does comes up, huh Tsumugi?" Himiko teased, though not unkindly.

"I told you that cosplay normally doesn't come up that often in class trials." Tsumugi shot back sharing a minute snigger with the smaller girl.

"So then what makes you so sure this person really is Tenko?" Keebo asked.

"It's lots of little things, her body type, her facial structure... I would be able to notice any imperfection almost immediately, but this girl is a _perfect_ match to the Tenko we knew."

"So then..." His thoughts racing, Shuichi began summing up everything they knew, "Based on Tsumugi's account the person in that photo really is Tenko from around ten years ago."

"The photo also shows someone who looks just like her master, and it looks _exactly_ like the story that Tenko kept telling me!" Himiko continued, her face beaming.

"The idea that Danganronpa would set up these killing games so far in the past just for the sake of that picture and a few false memories…" Maki spoke, her tone declaring just how hopeful she was.

"Is simply incomprehensible." Keebo said, his whole body jittering in place. "Therefore we can conclude that the photo is…" His movements froze for a moment, his face going blank. However it only lasted a second before as abruptly as it stopped his words resumed. "Genuine. Which must mean…"

"It was a lie." Tsumugi finished, looking down at her feet, her voice soft. "We- You're not fictional people. You're real."

They were... real? They had done it? Checking over everything one last time Shuichi felt joy start to fill his chest. He couldn't find any problems. Did that mean… they really were-

"Hold on." Maki interjected, her voice like a punch to his stomach. "How do we know that you're not just lying to us again? Building up our hopes just to crush us all over again?" She asked, now stood glaring at Tsumugi, a dark look in her eyes.

Feeling his knees beginning to shake beneath him, Shuichi watched the scene unfolding in front of him with a cautious eye. As much as he hated to admit it, even to himself, Maki made a good point, the things that Tsumugi was saying seemed to be exactly what they were hoping to hear. It was... perfect.

Oh _please_ tell him that didn't mean…

"NO!" Tsumugi answered frantically, almost screaming her reply. Raising her hands in front of herself Tsumugi turned to directly face Maki. "I… I wouldn't do that. Not now. Not after…"

Quickly her eyes flicked around the room, landing for a moment on both Shuichi and Keebo before they met those of the red headed mage, pausing a second longer before returning to Maki's.

Tsumugi didn't offer any further defence, Instead she kept her eyes firmly on Maki's. For a what felt like forever the contact was held. It appeared that neither side was going to back down.

The exchange was held for a brief period longer before Maki's expression cleared, and she gave a small (but still strong) nod.

"I believe you." She said simply.

Tsumugi's reply was a whisper. "Thank you…"

Maki still caught it though and, after a bashful look to the side, offered her own, "No. Thank _you_."

It was swiftly followed by another...

"Indeed, it is unlikely we would have come to this conclusion without your input. You have my thanks."

And another...

"Thank you Tsumugi. I… Just... Thank you _so_ much."

And finally...

"Thank you for your help Tsumugi. I- We can't thank you enough."

Shocked in the face of all the praise, Tsumugi looked at each person in turn, her expression wavering more and more each time before, with a gasp, she began to cry.

It wasn't something beautiful like all the romanticized examples appeared to portray, instead the tears fell in a stream, soaking into the bangs of her hair, causing both to begin to stick to her face. Further material fell from her nose that instead made its way down into her collar, likely staining it even more.

It was once again Maki who acted first. Channelling her inner caregiver she moved to help support Tsumugi, allowing the girl to cling to her as she, somewhat awkwardly (though no less gently) began to rub along her back.

In an effort to help distract everyone away from the very personal moment unfolding in front of them, Keebo began to speak again. "Himiko, I have to ask… How on Earth did you manage to take the picture off me without me noticing?"

"I've already told you…" Himiko began before she shook her head in a disappointed manner in Keebo's direction. "It's _magic_!" Himiko finished with complete seriousness.

The effect was slightly ruined by the corner of her mouth twitching into a smile.

A snort sounded in the resultant silence of the courtroom. He wasn't sure exactly who it was (his main suspect was himself) but it soon was followed by another (and from the hand covering her mouth it appeared that _Maki_ was the one responsible) which after a moment set off a chain reaction of laughter, with everybody joining in.

There were tears and hiccups sprinkled throughout, not only from Tsumugi but also Himiko and, judging by the wetness of his cheeks, himself as well.

It was a mixture of both the unexpected joke, and the sheer _relief_ that they all felt in light of the new information.

Sharing everyone's elation with his own Shuichi looked off to the opposite side of the podiums once more. When she noticed his attention, Tsumugi gave him a small, hesitant smile which quickly grew when he returned it with one of his own.

Their families were _real_. Their friends were _real_.

 _ **They**_ were real.

* * *

As the laughter started to die down and the tears were wiped away Shuichi looked round to see that he had everyone's attention once more.

"Now that we know of one lie this so called production has told I think that there's plenty other topic that we should cover."

"Okay everyone! Just like before let's all work together to find the truth!" Himiko exclaimed.

"Tsumugi?"

"I'm ready." Tsumugi spoke, nodding her head determinedly. "Just let me know when you need me to ' _hold it'._ " Tsumugi said, ending with a brief giggle.

Shuichi let out a tiny snort too before opening his mouth, ready to reply.

" _Wow_ … _Great_ job Tsumugi." The voice said, carrying around the room. It didn't come from him though, instead it emanated out from _behind_ Tsumugi. As soon as he recognised it, it continued, a cruel caricature of interest. "Was that _another_ pointless reference nobody else understands?"

Tsumugi's smile froze.

* * *

 **Urrrrrrrrrrgggh.**

 **Y'ello everyone, and thanks for sticking around.**

 **I'll be honest, I hated writing this chapter. Part of the problem stems from the fact that I write like 95% of this spontaneously and, as a result, I spent so long blanking over exactly they were actually going to talk about in this chapter. So much so in fact that I actually wrote nearly the entirety of the** _ **next**_ **chapter hoping I could just use that and worry about it later. In the words of Tony Stark though, 'Not a great plan'.**

 **When I finally settled on this though I wasn't sure how much Tsumugi would know, nor in fact exactly who the people in the motive videos were. In the end I made them real, because it made everyone happier.**

 **But this coupled with Uni and spending far too much time on SSBU and Mario Kart 8 brings us to the here and now.**

 **So… Sorry. Hopefully this chapter starts to make up for it?**

 **Let me know what you thought of the chapter! Due to my constant stopping, starting and rewriting I'm kinda worried this whole thing doesn't really flow together well. Feel free to agree with me.**

 **As always please leave a review if you have the time, I really appreciate it! Help me make this fic as good as it can be.**

 **And if you're able I would really appreciate some sort of anime references I could slip in. I've seen like two thirds of Death Note and a tiny bit of** **Yu Yu Hakusho so I'm** _ **really**_ **not an expert on the subject.**

 **Next chapter** _ **should**_ **be out sooner. At the very least it shouldn't take nearly three months again. I hope.**

 ** **Until the next time!****


	7. Cleaving the Fabric

**An update? That didn't take three months? Yay.**

 **Shameless self plug: Please check out my new fic 'Countdown to Despair' if you have the time, I'd really like to hear what you think! Available on my profile page.**

 **Warning, this chapter contains just as many spoilers as the chapter before this one did. And the one before that, and the one before that…**

 **Disclaimer: I still don't own Danganronpa. Sorry to disappoint.**

* * *

"W… W-What did you say?"

As Shuichi watched Tsumugi's expression begin to crumble he opened his mouth, ready to say something, _anything_ , to try and interrupt whatever spiel Monokuma was starting this time. Himiko actually managed to take this one step further.

"Be quiet! We don't-"

Despite the effort though Monokuma continued unabashed.

"Oh _dear_ , I'm _so_ sorry Tsumugi. You must not have heard me!" Cupping his paws around his mouth Monokuma took a deep breath. "I asked you if you had just asked _yet another_ completely _**pointless**_ reference that _nobody_ else had heard of!"

"Ah, actually I-"

"I suppose with such charming characteristics like that it's really no surprise that you're the least popular contestant this season. At least according to all of our audience polls." Monokuma continued, speaking over Shuichi's slight interruption with ease, "It's really quite astonishing actually, it didn't matter who we asked, your little _plain_ self was always the _least favourite._ " Here the bear paused, his paw raised to his chin in mock thought, "In fact I wonder if we did a poll involving _all_ the fictional character's Danganronpa has ever produced just _how_ low your name would appear?"

Monokuma's words were enough to draw a wince from both Shiuchi and Himiko. When he looked across the room at Maki she looked like she was about to attack the bear, killing game rules be damned.

 _Although at this point I think I'd be right there beside her..._

Turning his attention to Tsumugi herself he saw her distraught expression and he didn't miss the shudder that ran through the girl's body at these jeers, nor the way Monokuma's grin seemed to widen in return just behind her.

Once more Shuichi opened his mouth ready to interject but it seemed that this was exactly what Monokuma was waiting for as he immediately began to speak again.

"But that's the price of playing the Mastermind I guess! Then again most people love a _good_ villain so I wonder just how poor a picture that paints of you and your efforts! But at this point that's all you are, isn't it Tsu _mu_ gi?" Monokuma cooed, his voice becoming sickeningly sweet, "You remember right Tsumugi? All the foreshadowing you've dropped since the beginning about who you really are?"

"A-ah…"

"Don't worry, it's okay if you don't!" Reaching out behind himself, Monokuma's arm returned holding a similar device he had used earlier to blow up the Monokubs. " _We_ all remember."

Pressing the button with his paw Shuichi watched as the numerous screens changed their display. Just before they changed though, he was once more assaulted by the numerous comments sent in by 'fans'.

' _Monokuma's here to bring the desbear!'_

' _Don't give up now Shuichi! Show them your hope!'_

' _Hope you all have an umbrella, Monokuma's here to rain on your little parade!'_

' _Teach that awful Mastermind the real meaning of hope!'_

' _Ahhhhhh! They mentioned Clover again! She was my fav last season!'_

' _Hold on… Did they just say they are all r-'_

"Hmm… Ah, here we are!"

The screens were now showing a still image of three figures. Three very _familiar_ figures.

It was the blonde hair that first caught his eye. Adorned with clips in the shapes of notes and a pair of soft purple eyes looking inquisitively at her surroundings.

Shuichi tore his eyes from the screen, forcing himself to look in a different direction. He _couldn't_ look at her, not after what Ts- _Danganronpa_ , what _he_ , had done to that girl. But it didn't matter where he looked, the image was the same on each TV.

 _Kaede…_

"Well Tsumugi, does this ring any bells?"

Tsumugi didn't reply. Instead her eyes were fixed on the grainy image of herself from a few weeks prior.

"Let's open it up to the floor! How about you Shuichi? Don't you remember Tsumugi's little introduction?"

He did. Looking back to that time that felt like a lifetime ago now, when he and Kaede had just woken up and they had come across someone who seemed to be quite a... spacy girl. Someone who had been so nervous to speak to two new people that they had ended up blurting out something so absurd before even introducing herself…

The video began playing and the voices of Kaede, Tsumugi and himself enveloped the room. A blush quickly came to his face when he remember how exactly the bluenette had been introduced.

" _Poke. Poke."_

 _Damn it Keade…_

" _Now then let's talk. What do you want to start with?"_ On the screen Tsumugi took a step forward before she continued talking enthusiastically. " _My favourite Doraemon episode is #53. The one with the security cameras and target practice."_

 _53..._

From Himiko's slight gasp and Maki's pained sigh it appeared he wasn't the only one who caught the implication.

The volume of the voices seemed to raise just in time for another sentence from Tsumugi.

" _Ah… that bronze dragon statue over there. I'm just plain curious about it. It almost looks like it's floating, right? Doesn't it seem out of place?"_

Another thing that hadn't meant much at the time, but the fact that the dragon statue had actually been the first 'obstacle' to the next floor of the school...

"And what about the rest of you? How about the time she referred to _poor_ Gonta's execution a whole three trials early?"

The scene shifted to display the trial in question. This time however it seemed to be from a first person point of view. After a quick look Shuichi determined it was in fact from _Keebo's_ perspective.

 _Right… Tsumugi did say he was made purposely for the audience this season…_

The robot said nothing about this though, merely staring ahead, his expression… pained?

"Kee-"

Suddenly Gonta's voice began to play from the feed, the moment had captured his explanation of why he was in the AV room at the time of Rantaro's murder. Tsumugi chimed in next.

" _Were you trying to imagine yourself as a huge mantis with swords for hands?"_

Tsumugi herself flinched hard at this reminder, her mouth opened for a moment ready with a rebuttal but when she turned to confront the bear she appeared to lose her nerve and instead broke eye contact, spinning back around and her gaze falling to the floor.

Before anyone could do _anything_ the screen changed again, this time displaying Gonta's execution itself.

The scene had been impossible enough to watch the first time, here it looked as though someone had edited together a 'highlights' reel, the picture cutting between close ups of Monokuma, the robot bugs, Gonta's swollen face a tracking shot of the final, _huge_ , mantis racing towards Gonta, it's limb extended out ready to-

Shuichi managed to wrench his eyes shut in time to avoid seeing Gonta's final moments for a _second_ time but the _squelching_ sound of his chest being _impaled_...

"Why are you showing all this?" Maki demanded.

"I know, I know… Doing a clip show? Shameful of us, but don't you worry Danganronpa fans, new footage coming soon!"

"Stop… please stop…"

"Not just yet! We've haven't shown the best one!"

The screen changed again. When the static cleared it was to the familiar sight of the library. The main focus of the image though was the green haired teen who was looking down at his personal pad stood in front of the opened bookcase.

"No… Not this…"

A flash of light illuminated the man, the result of the camera that had been placed to his right. He acted as anyone would, moving to investigate with a confused ' _huh?'_.

"Please, just-"

Even though a part of him was expecting it, the sudden appearance of the falling shot put ball was a shock. For the first time Shuichi saw exactly where the ball fell. A mere foot or so from the person's head.

The male looked up, just as surprised at the appearance of the ball. Just distracted enough to miss the new person entering the room behind him.

"Don't, please!"

The new figure was silent. They looked at the male in front of them for a moment before their eyes fell to the second shot put ball in their hands. There was a few seconds of hesitation, the figure lowing their head briefly, their eyes screwed shut. The silence was broken though as, with a yell, the ball was thrusted into the back of Rantaro's head.

The sound… The _crunch_ …

The lone standing figure now looked down at the corpse in front of them, for a moment it seemed they didn't know how to react, their mouth open and behind their glasses their eyes were quivering. The expression didn't last long though before their mouth shifted into a manic grin. The shot put balls were swapped and with a sudden panicked look to their side the figure returned into the secret room.

That figure was of course now stood opposite him, Tsumugi Shirogane stood with her arm extended out towards the screen, her mouth open in a silent scream.

"You remember, right Tsumugi? This is who you are, the Mastermind of the 53rd killing game, here for no other reason, no other _purpose_ , than to create despair. You work for Team Danganronpa, for ME!"

Monokuma was standing now, right on the edge of his 'throne'. From Shuichi's perspective opposite them the bear looked to be directly above the cosplayer, almost appearing to be whispering into her ear thanks to Tsumugi having her head bowed, her face hidden behind her bangs.

"All of this was a fun little distraction Tsumugi, but this whole thing has really gone on for too long. You really think after everything you've done you can just turn your back on your position? After getting _Kaede_ executed? Manipulating everyone's minds? Giving _Kaito_ his illness?" A flurry of flinches ran through the group affecting Shuichi and Maki in turn, each one being mirrored and magnified by Tsumugi. However...

"H-hold on!" Though shaking slightly as everyone's attention turned to her Himiko raised her index finger, pushing up the brim of her hat before turning it on the bear with a pointed… point, "Tsumugi may have done s-some of those things… A-and a lot of them were pretty awful, b-but there's no way Tsumugi was the one who gave Kaito his illness. She doesn't have the magical ability for something like that." The mage's words may have started shaky but built in strength as she expressed her point before, with a little smile, she finished speaking in a faux smug tone when Tsumugi's head raised slightly to look at her, "I know because I checked with my mage sight."

Monokuma's words caught in his throat for a moment but, unfortunately, he was quick to respond with a growl, "So what? She may not have done that personally but she still works for the company that did!"

"Has that… always... been the case?" Keebo asked slowly, his hand raising to rub his forehead briefly.

Monokuma opened his mouth to respond but it was _Tsumugi_ who beat him to the punch, "N-no. It wasn't until after I survived the 52nd killing game that I became a part of Team Danganronpa."

"Then it wouldn't be right to blame her for things that began before this killing game then!" Himiko said.

"Well what about all the things she did in this killing game? How can you justify **that**?" Monokuma shouted, his words just shy of a roar.

"You're right."

"Exactly! I'm glad you're finally agree- Wait, which one of you-"

The same voice from before spoke again in an almost clinical tone, "Tsumugi has done some awful things since the beginning of this killing game, all in the name of Team Danganronpa."

"Maki? What are you-"

It was indeed Maki who had taken the chance to speak, though she didn't grace anyone else with the same opportunity as she soon continued, "Things that she will _never_ be able to take back, no matter how guilty, no matter how _sorry_ she may be because of them."

Maki met Tsumugi's eyes in an icy glare, one that Shuichi recognised as one more fierce than the ones he had frequently received before. Despite it's intense nature however Tsumugi did not turn away. In fact it was _Maki_ who was the one who broke the contact first.

"But the thing is I know quite a bit about doing terrible things, all for the people above me."

"Maki?" Keebo questioned with a confused look on his face, something that was mirrored on Himiko.

"As I'm sure you all know I am the Ultimate Assassin." Maki began. "And based on what we've just established our ' _backstories'_ are real." Maki took a breath before she continued to speak.

"I can't remember my parents, but I can remember the fact that I used to live in an orphanage. I was the eldest of all the children and as such it was my responsibility to look after everyone else, although I can't say I enjoyed it very much." Pausing to release a brief chuckle Maki closed her eyes, losing herself in her old memories, "All the kids seemed to love me for some reason though so in return I _tolerated_ the task of making sure they were all looked after. It wasn't glamorous but we made it work. Until it didn't. We didn't have enough money and with the winter approaching…"

"That's when you were recruited, right Maki?" Shuichi asked.

"Right. It was a… ruthless process. I'll spare you most of the details but I have _personally_ shot, stabbed, poisoned, _tortured..._ a _lot_ of people."

In spite of himself Shuichi nervously swallowed.

"I hated myself for a long time because of it. It was only thanks to a very stubborn idiot and a very nosey sidekick that that's… _started_ to change." With a final deep exhale Maki turned to face Tsumugi. "And the thing is… if I can learn to forgive myself, I certainly can forgive you."

"B-But…" Tsumugi began slowly, casting a nervous look towards the other girl. "You had a good reason didn't you? The other children at your orphanage?"

"Right." Maki nodded cautiously.

"Then how could you _possibly_ forgive me for doing… _all_ of this, all for Danganronpa?" Tsumugi implored, fresh tears on her face.

"We don't know that!" Himiko cut in. "Maybe you had a good reason too!"

"We know for a fact that flashback lights were used on Rantaro, so there's a high probability they were used on you too." Shuichi confirmed.

"And who knows what they could have overridden. But until we do…I won't judge you." Maki said firmly.

"Maki… I..." Tsumugi whispered.

"Me neither."

"Himiko…"

"Come on Tsumugi, don't leave your forgiveness arc halfway."

"Shuichi…" Tsumugi suddenly released a snort. "Did you mean _redemption_ arc?"

"Ah…" And he was blushing again…

"Tsumugi, it's us against the killing game, against Monokuma… Will you fight with us?"

In response to Maki's question Tsumugi's gaze once more circled the room, this time looking at each portrait that surrounded the group, pausing for a moment on Gonta's, and hesitating even further on Rantaro's.

"I…" Tsumugi's eyes met his, before with a determined nod, "Yes."

"Yes?" Shuichi parroted, a wide grin growing on his face.

"Yes! I will." Tsumugi confirmed, beaming. Her eyes fell to her podium once more, considering it for a moment before she stepped down, walking around the podiums until she stopped just to his right.

Shuichi turned to meet her in a hug.

It was swiftly returned.

After a moment Himiko too walked over, promptly followed by Maki, both of them joining the two of them (though not without a blush from the later).

When Shuichi turned to look at Keebo he saw the robot shaking his head, his hand supporting it and his ahoge still waving wildly. After a moment he snapped out of it and after noticing the new position of everyone was quick to join in too.

As the group began to break up Tsumugi looked across the room at her podium once more. When she saw Monokuma just behind it silently watching her she met the gaze evenly before her attention turned to Miu's podium.

With a push to move the picture out of the way she stepped up on to it. Just behind her Himiko did the same onto Tenko's. To his left he saw Maki already in place looking back at him from what was Kaito's post.

The group of five shared a smile before they turned to look at Monokuma, now alone on the other side of the room.

"Monokuma I have to ask…" Tsumugi began. "What was the point of that… distraction? It was definitely _cruel_ but you gave up... really easily."

"You're right…" Shuichi agreed. "The only thing you seemed to achieve was wasting time-"

Shuichi's words were suddenly cut off by the sound of a pained _scream_ from his right.

"K-Keebo?!"

As the group turned to look at the robot, each expressing their concern they watched as electricity started to race over this metallic body, Keebo's face twisted in pain.

" _Puhuhuhuhu…_ _**Puhuhuhuhuhuhu**_! Thank you. Thank you all for indulging yourselves in all these _pointless_ topics. Thanks to _all_ of you things are _finally_ getting back in track. You have all done a great service to Danganronpa! We'll be sure to mention you in the closing credits."

As if in response to Monokuma's words the electricity suddenly cut off, and Keebo's face fell blank.

Monokuma's eyes flashed and his grin grew to cover his entire face.

"Although I'm afraid it's unlikely you'll ever get the chance to watch them. Don't you agree _K1-B0_?"

* * *

 **So… yeah.**

 **Funny word cleaved. While it can mean to cleave something apart it can also be used to mean to cleave something together. I thought it fit.**

 **As always please leave a review if you have the time, I really appreciate it! Help me make this fic as good as it can be.**

 **Until the next time!**


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